again, i was dismayed to discover that some of the topics which really caught my interest were only marketing hype. when the actual conference came, they re-shuffled the topics. and worse, they removed most of my choice topics and replaced it with mundane, uninteresting ones. worst part is, their schedule is completely useless, since it wasnt exactly followed.
web 2.0 in japan, wasnt even discussed. along with some of the others. there wasnt just enough time for each of the speakers. for each topic. laging bitin.
the venue was great. but then again, the entrance and exit of people was mismanaged. to maintain order, the student volunteers of the organizers have to literally lock down the theatre or hall just to prevent people from transferring from a boring talk to the more interesting one at the other building. i find that extremely annoying, since i'd rather transfer to another theatre than stand. as i've said, the event was sorely mismanaged. they let in more students than the theatre can handle.
the food was disgusting. it tastes and stinks of artificial flavoring. it would have been better if they just handed us plain bread with a little filling, instead of the slimy, slippery sugar coated pastries that only kids below 11 yrs old would find tasty. the juice, god forbid it should be called like that, was nothing more than plain tap water mixed with a little flavoring and sugar. it leaves a real bad taste in the mouth too, that i have to buy bottled water just to wash it down.
the exhibits were terrible. although some booths hand out prizes. last year's set of exhibits was a lot more interesting and gratifying, when it comes to finding opportunities for the field of IT. i was really disappointed since i was expecting that y4it would've finally caught up with the west when it comes to emerging web technologies, and stuff. i was sort-of half-expecting to find an RoR booth, other open source evangelist booths, or even just a pinoy company web 2.0 related booth. but to my dismay, i find none.
my recommendation is, plan this event at least 4 months before it takes place. because the way things were run, it becomes quite obvious that everything was crammed. people pay six hundred fucking pesos for a conference, and they feel ripped off. like me.
also, let students choose between the topics they wished to go to. and give them the right to reserve their own seats in advance. people attend the conference and paid in advance because of these topics, it is only right that they should have seats. this brings us to the issue of order.
there's no semblance of order in the way things had been run. i dont know why these guys never learn. it was the same as that of last year, only this time the students actually made a pretty line outside the venue, but once they entered, it was pure chaos. the noise pollution was actually deafening as each group of attendees seems to want to out-talk the others. heck, even the speaker from Google was ticked off by the crowd's noise. I feel immensely embarrassed for this events' organizers.
my recommendation is that house rules should be set strictly in the website, or registration form. the students should be warned beforehand, about bringing food inside, about making noise, and about participation. instead of hanging out like tambays outside the venue, it would be much better if the student volunteers were inside the theatre to maintain peace and decorum. while the speakers were talking, they should already be distributing papers for those with questions, and gather these, at least 30 minutes before the open forum, so that they can filter out the more relevant questions with regards to the topic. because what happened in one of the talks is that a certain group of students from the same university kept asking questions that only requires common sense to answer it.
furthermore, the emcees acted like highschool students. i mean, for pete's sake, it was a national youth congress, not a barangay pageant. their antics onstage is utterly childish and unprofessional. if not for the topic and money i spent, i would've left my chair in disgust. i recommend finding emcees that has actual experience in these events. those who are formal, yet a bit funny. funny in a wholesome way, pero not too wholesome na they'd act too corny and as i've said, like highschool students. they should be professional, and should have at least some actual knowledge of what the talks actually were.
so again, my recommendations are. plan the event meticulously beforehand. let people reserve their own set of seats for each particular topic. if they haven't reserved a seat, it's their fault. put a number on each seat, may set of numbers say (101-199) na para sa mga "walk-in" participants. at saka, para walang gulo. use your volunteers or hire bouncers, or other security people to discipline ang mga matitigas ang ulo at pasaway.
finalize the schedule before ng conference. never ever re-shuffle it. in case you did, be decent enough to contact the participant that you've changed the schedule. arrange the speaker to arrive at least an hour before their talk-time, and leave at least an hour after. one hour before, para may buffer time sila in case na ma-late sila, or hindi sila nakapag prepare. and leave an hour after, para makapag entertain sila ng questions off-forum. and i think next time, it would be much better na two topics lang sa morning at dalawa sa afternoon. because the time constraints only allow the speakers to discuss an overview of their topics. it would also help, if you would give a guideline to the speakers on the set-up of the talk, what types of equipment would be used, the layout of the stage, and so on. para maging prepared na sila for the stage and the crowd before hand. i also advise that you should set-up your lights more properly next time. in one of the talks, the lights on the sides of the stage were too bright for comfort, like the foglights of a truck, it hurts the eyes to see what's being projected on screen. I noticed that those particular talks in which the lights are too bright were also the ones in which a lot of students leave. perhaps like me, they can't stand the harsh glare of those lights. napaka useless rin ng pag gamit ng light to further illuminate the participants, kasi hindi na nga sila makita ng speaker because of the brightlights na tinatarget ang speaker. mas mabuti kung gumamit na lang kayo ng spotlight.
September 8th, 2008
/ Comment / Trackback